Thanks for the feedback, and the fantastic guide you've put together Mad Lust.

The dt990 pro are $150 which is at the top of my budget, so I can't really afford an amp to go with them. Looking for good bass, a decent sound stage, and velour pads, there aren't that many options. I could give up the velour and go with the CALs which are under my budget or save up some and get the X1's.

For voice chat, a cable goes from the receiver unit to the controller of the ps4/360 (not sure on XB1).

As for ps3, you need special cable that Astro no longer sells. It goes from the PS3's usb port, to a special 3.5mm input on the transmitter. I believe you can contact Astro support and ask for them to sell you one.

The receiver unit (RX unit) is pretty small and you keep next to you, or close enough to plug your headphones to.

Both the Tx unit and Rx unit have usb for charging, and you can buy a battery pack for the RX unit, or use batteries. Only the battery pack will charge with the usb plugged in. Not sure if the one I got on ebay will function like the official battery pack Astro doesn't sell anymore.Edited by Mad Lust Envy - 12/3/13 at 9:23am

How do nice AV receivers do at driving headphones? For instance I have AKG Annies which I love, connected to my Marantz SR5005 receiver with Dolby Headphone. Anyone have a feel (given the AKGs are known as hard to drive "to potential"), if I'd benefit much from double-amping the receiver headphone output with a headphone amp in the $100-200 range? Just don't know how much power a receiver like that puts out in comparison to dedicated headphone amps?

Also to complicate things, how much does it impact things to use a Y-splitter to send the headphone output to two locations? Reason I ask is, given the AKG has easily detachable cable, and I have two (coiled and straight), and was thinking of splitting the headphone signal coming out of the receiver (and amp, if I get one) to drive signals to a remote room as well and plug in the headphones there for occasional use. I know if the signal is extended (especially longer distances, such as with custom longer cable, or some kind of 1/8" stereo balun or transmitter/receiver to run long distances over Cat-5, for example) that must degrade the strength of the signal and therefore the sound. Would amping the output with something like a Magni, Vali (or O2) help especially if I have a Y-splitter on the output jack? Or does a good AV receiver like the Marantz already have similar power output on the headphone jack?

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy
Think about it. 250ohm and higher headphones were made for full size receivers. Look at the Mixamp. It's barely an amp as is.

So if you wanna utilize them to their properly performance level, you need something with power behind it. There are various small amps that have been made to break the mold, but the Mixamp is not one of them.

Can the Mixamp drive it loudly without voice chat? Yes. Is it straining to supply them with enough power? Yes. You're basically running the Mixamp at full capacity just to squeeze them to drive the 990s loudly, and it's not even proper power.

People want to spend $200 on headphones that they won't even utilize properly. For that, you may as well spend the extra $100 for the Fidelio X1 which sounds better AND can be driven well off the Mixamp. At least you're getting more of your money's worth. A fully driven 990 (meaning spending at least an extra $100 to power them properly) doesn't even sound as good as a Fidelio X1 ran off a weak source.

I'm not aiming this at you. I'm generalizing. People throw their money away on a good headphone, that they hook up to weak power. It's a waste.

I remember reading a Head-Fi guide somewhere that made a point of budgeting for the entire system, not just the headphone.

I always kept that in mind, and that's what made higher-end headphone systems well beyond my means...albeit not too far beyond that I couldn't acquaint myself with Stax for a while.

Having to keep this in mind is what makes recommending headphones to people difficult for me. They keep asking for sub-$100 headphones, and the ones I'd frequently recommend tend to run more in the $150-200 range (MA900)...if not the $750-850 range (vintage Stax Lambda + SRM-1/Mk2 Pro or SRM-T1). There's this big price jump that happens when you really need to start budgeting for an amp that'll work well.

I am getting myself a dragonfly dac and akg550's for Christmas..K550's supposed to sound a bit like the Q701 what I have read..should be good match with the dragonfly!

I was severely let down by the K550 when I heard them. Hopefully they're what you're looking for, but they certainly aren't for me. They sounded completely dead and lifeless. And I loved my Q701. I personally wouldn't say they sound anything alike. The Q701 has personality. The K550 has the charisma of a stump.

I remember reading a Head-Fi guide somewhere that made a point of budgeting for the entire system, not just the headphone.

What's the general rule of thumb/price ratio if you were to buy a complete system: say if you had $500 would you get $300 HP's and the rest on your DAC/AMP? That would seem to be about right, but I've never really pinned it down whilst I've been on these forums.

I wonder how the Shure SRH1540 fares? I know it's new and all and I've never owned a Shure before but I am really curios if it is good or not :P

Change has said a few things in this thread about the 1540. Here's one excerpt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Change is Good

For now, I can say the 1540 extends much lower than the [MrSpeakers Mad Dogs] and has a slightly wider soundstage. It's midrange and treble, though not recessed, is more linear but isn't overshadowed by the bass. Man... that bass, though! ! It's like a refined X1 kind of bass that can be played at high volumes... with no recession in the midrange at all (which was my only complaint of the X1).

I agree with gelocks' perception in the 1540 thread that these are a technically superior SRH840 with a boosted low end.

I was severely let down by the K550 when I heard them. Hopefully they're what you're looking for, but they certainly aren't for me. They sounded completely dead and lifeless. And I loved my Q701. I personally wouldn't say they sound anything alike. The Q701 has personality. The K550 has the charisma of a stump.